Cross-cutting area · Nationwide coverage · All public administrations
Urban Planning and Land Use Lawyers in Spain
Compulsory purchase and fair value, challenging planning instruments, urban planning discipline and permits. More than 20 years representing owners, developers and local administrations before the regional High Court and the Supreme Court across Spain.
Compulsory purchase procedure
The 6 stages of the compulsory purchase procedure in Spain
The 1954 Compulsory Purchase Act (LEF) and its Regulation set out a procedure in which the owner has specific rights at every stage. Knowing them and exercising them within the deadline is the difference between fair compensation and a clearly insufficient one.
- 01
Declaration of public utility or social interest
The enabling act or rule justifying the compulsory deprivation of property. It may be implicit in the law (roads, the electricity sector, renewables) or require a formal act by the Council of Ministers or the competent regional body. Challengeable through judicial review.
⏱ Variable depending on the procedure
- 02
Need for occupation: public information
The administration publishes the list of affected assets and rights. Owners may submit observations on the description, ownership, or the possibility of substituting the affected assets with equivalent ones. The need-for-occupation decision is appealable.
⏱ 15 working days of public information
- 03
Attempt at mutual agreement
Before referring the matter to the Jury, the administration or the beneficiary must attempt to agree a conventional price with the owner (art. 24 LEF). If agreement is reached, it produces the effects of final fair value. If no agreement is reached within the deadline, the file proceeds to the Jury.
⏱ 15 days to reach agreement
- 04
Valuation sheets and the Expropriation Jury
Each party submits its reasoned valuation. The owner has 20 days from receiving the administration's sheet to submit their own — if they fail to do so, they become bound by the administration's valuation. The Provincial Jury sets the fair value by reasoned decision.
⏱ 20 days to submit the valuation sheet
- 05
Payment or deposit and occupation
Once fair value is set, the administration has 6 months to pay or deposit it. Payment includes the fair value plus a 5% affection premium. Once paid or deposited, the administration may occupy the asset even if the owner has challenged the fair value.
⏱ 6 months to pay from the fixing of fair value
- 06
Challenging the fair value before the regional High Court
The owner may challenge the Jury's decision before the regional High Court within 2 months. The most frequent grounds with favourable outcomes: an incorrect valuation method, omission of lost profits or relocation damages, and lack of reasoning. The High Court can significantly increase the fair value.
⏱ 2 months from notification of the Jury's decision
Legal framework
Land classification in Spain
RDLeg 7/2015 establishes two basic situations: urbanised land and rural land. Regional urban planning laws develop the classification with their own categories, but the limitation period for infringements and the compulsory purchase regime depend on the class and category of land.
| Land class | Building regime | Key rule | Infringement limitation period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consolidated urban land | Plots with all urban services (road access, water, sanitation, electricity) and duly developed. Direct building with a permit, with no pending development charges. | Art. 21 RDLeg 7/2015 | 4 years (serious) |
| Non-consolidated urban land | Urban land requiring interior reform, renovation or improvement operations. Subject to equitable distribution of charges and benefits through reparcelling. Building is conditional on prior development. | Art. 21 RDLeg 7/2015 | 4 years (serious) |
| Sectorised developable land | Land with a sector defined in the general planning instrument but pending a partial plan. Requires approval of the partial plan, a development project and reparcelling before building. | Regional urban planning laws | 4-6 years depending on the region |
| Non-sectorised developable land | Land intended for development but without a sector defined in the PGOU. Requires an amendment of the general planning instrument for its development. Transitional regime varies by region. | Regional urban planning laws | 4-6 years depending on the region |
| Rural / ordinary non-developable land | Land excluded from the development process with no special protected values. Allows agricultural, extractive and extensive leisure uses, and certain land-linked installations (energy, telecommunications) with regional authorisation. | Art. 21 RDLeg 7/2015 | 4-6 years depending on the region |
| Specially protected rural land⚠ Special protection | Land with values the law requires to be preserved: environmental, natural, agricultural, forestry, landscape, historical, cultural or risk-related. Infringements have NO LIMITATION PERIOD. The administration can order demolition with no time limit. | Art. 11.3 RDLeg 7/2015 + Coastal Act + Natura 2000 network | NO LIMITATION PERIOD |
* Limitation periods vary depending on each region's urban planning law. The table shows the reference national deadlines (RDLeg 7/2015).
What we do
Urban planning and land use services
Urban planning combines public law with first-order patrimonial interests. We act both at the preventive stage — planning and permits — and at the contentious stage — sanctions, compulsory purchase and demolitions.
Compulsory purchase and fair value
Defending the owner at every stage of the compulsory purchase procedure: submissions on need for occupation, preparing the owner's valuation sheet (with an expert), negotiating mutual agreement, challenging the Provincial Jury's decision before the regional High Court and cassation appeal before the Supreme Court. Specialisation in expropriations for linear infrastructure, energy and renewable projects.
Urban planning instruments
Challenging PGOUs, partial plans, special plans and specific amendments for formal or substantive defects. Representing owners in planning processes affecting their properties. Preventive advice in processing planning instruments for local administrations and developers. Direct and indirect appeals against regulations and general provisions of urban planning content.
Urban planning discipline
Defence in urban planning discipline proceedings: work suspension orders, demolition orders, sanctioning proceedings and legality restoration procedures. Analysis of the limitation period for the infringement. Legalising existing constructions on urban or developable land. Non-conforming status and the regime of permissible works.
Permits and authorisations
Appeals against refused urban planning permits, disproportionate conditions and administrative silence in permit procedures. Responsible declarations and prior communications: scope, limits and consequences of non-compliance. Subdivision, segregation and merger permits. First occupation and habitability certificates.
Reparcelling and valuations
Challenging reparcelling projects and the equitable distribution of urban planning charges and benefits. Land valuations for compulsory purchase, patrimonial liability and sale purposes. Coordination with accredited architects and valuation experts. Expert evidence for judicial proceedings.
Urban planning and the environment
Coordinating urban planning law with environmental law in projects requiring an EIA, integrated environmental authorisation or impact assessment in Natura 2000 areas. Expropriations linked to renewable energy projects (wind farms, solar farms, evacuation lines). Demarcation of the maritime-terrestrial public domain and the coastal protection easement zone (Coastal Act).
Related areas
Urban planning in the context of your project
Urban planning issues rarely arise in isolation. These are the areas where urban planning law has the greatest impact for our clients:
Wind farms, solar farms and their evacuation lines require regional urban planning processing and generate large-scale expropriations with appealable fair value.
Acquiring land and real estate assets in Spain requires urban planning due diligence: classification, permits, pending demolition orders and non-conforming status.
Challenging urban planning acts follows the general rules of administrative procedure: appeal deadlines, silence, patrimonial liability and ex officio review.
Frequently asked questions about urban planning and compulsory purchase
Can I challenge the fair value set by the Expropriation Jury?
Yes. The Provincial Expropriation Jury's decision is an administrative act appealable before the regional High Court within 2 months of notification (art. 46 LJCA). The High Court has full jurisdiction to review the Jury's valuation and can increase the fair value. The most frequent grounds with a favourable outcome are applying an incorrect valuation method, omitting compensable items (lost profits, relocation damages, affected easements) and insufficient reasoning in the decision. Provisional payment of the fair value does not prevent filing the appeal or affect the outcome.
How long do I have to submit my valuation sheet in a compulsory purchase?
The owner has 20 working days to submit their valuation sheet once they have received the administration's (art. 29 LEF). If not submitted within the deadline, the owner becomes bound by the administration's valuation, permanently losing the right to propose a higher valuation. The valuation sheet must include the reasoned valuation of all affected assets and rights: land value, constructions, plantings, easements, relocation of industrial or commercial activity, lost profits and any other provable loss. It is essential to have an architect or valuation expert before submitting it.
How long do I have to appeal an urban planning sanction?
Urban planning sanctions follow the general deadlines: 1 month for the administrative appeal and 2 months for judicial review once the act exhausts the administrative route. But the key concept is the limitation period for the infringement before sanctioning proceedings are opened. Serious infringements usually lapse after 4 years and very serious ones after 6 years, counted from when the works ended. On specially protected land (coastline, environmental, flood zones, Natura 2000) the infringement has no limitation period.
What is specially protected land and why do infringements there have no limitation period?
Specially protected land is land with values the law requires to be preserved: environmental, natural, agricultural, forestry, landscape, historical, cultural or natural-risk-related. It includes the maritime-terrestrial public domain and the coastal easement zone (Coastal Act), public-interest forests, flood zones, Natura 2000 network areas and land expressly declared protected under regional planning. Article 11.3 of RDLeg 7/2015 establishes that infringements on this land have no limitation period: the administration can open sanctioning proceedings and enforce a demolition order with no time limit from when the infringement was committed, regardless of how many years have passed.
What happens if I build or subdivide on non-developable land?
Illegal constructions on non-developable land are subject to restoration of urban planning legality (demolition at the infringer's expense) and sanctioning proceedings. Outside specially protected land, if the limitation periods lapse without the administration acting, demolition can no longer be enforced; the construction becomes non-conforming (unable to be extended or substantially altered). On specially protected land, demolition is enforceable at any time. Illegal subdivisions on non-developable land are subject to a specific sanctioning regime and may result in the forced reversal of the subdivision. Acquiring rural properties without having analysed the potential illegality of existing constructions is one of the most frequent risks in real estate due diligence.
Have you received a compulsory purchase notice or a discipline file?
Deadlines in urban planning are short and silence has consequences. Tell us what you have received and when: we'll tell you honestly whether there is room to act and how we can help.
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